St. Petersburg mayor supports recycling proposal

ST. PETERSBURG — In what he concedes is a policy shift, Mayor Rick Baker said Wednesday that he will support a county proposal to bring curbside recycling to the city.

A longtime opponent of curbside recycling, Baker said Pinellas County removed one of his two major objections — the cost — by offering to pay for it. He said his staff will tackle his other objection — increased pollution from trucks picking up recyclable materials.

"We all want the same things for the environment," Baker said. "The county solved the money problem, and I'm becoming more convinced that there are ways of addressing these greenhouse issues."

When curbside recycling will start remains undecided. The county, which favors weekly collection, wants to have a program in place within a year.

Baker said he supports monthly curbside collection but could embrace weekly collections if his environmental concerns are addressed.

Possible solutions include planting trees to offset carbon emissions and buying trucks powered by natural gas, Baker said.

County officials applauded Baker's announcement. "It is very desirable to have them go along," said Andy Fairbanks, the county's Waste Reduction Program supervisor. "If Mayor Baker wants to plant trees in addition, that's great."

City Council Chairman Jamie Bennett called the mayor's decision "very exciting.'' "What this means is curbside recycling in one form or another is going to happen," Bennett said.

The only areas in Pinellas without curbside recycling now are St. Petersburg, Madeira Beach and unincorporated areas. Madeira Beach supports the county's proposal.

The county proposes spending $7.2-million in annual surplus sanitation revenue to expand curbside recycling countywide. The 21 cities that now provide the service would be reimbursed.

The county contends curbside recycling is a greener alternative to collection centers. An estimated 4.8-million gallons of gas would be saved if 440 tons of recyclable material were picked up curbside instead of at collection centers, the county estimates. Greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 20,900 metric tons, the equivalent of removing 16,600 passenger cars from the road.

Baker supports a compromise proposed by council member Karl Nurse calling for seasonal weekly yard-waste collection and monthly curbside collection of other recyclables.

The county has not said whether it will pay for yard waste recycling, but Baker will push for it. "I'm just going to negotiate for the best deal. It's the county's decision," Baker said.

St. Petersburg is the largest city in Florida without curbside collection, a fact that has shadowed Baker since he took office in 2001.

In recent years, he worked to build a reputation as a pragmatic, statewide leader on green issues. Baker is chairman of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida and vice chairman of Gov. Charlie Crist's climate change team. And St. Petersburg was designated the first "Green City" by the Florida Green Building Coalition last year.

But as recently as two weeks ago, a sanitation supervisor explained the county's proposal to an aide to the mayor and wrote: "the mayor … is against this.''

And Baker still questions the environmental benefits of curbside collection. Although he concedes he cannot prove it, Baker says curbside recycling is more polluting than collection centers because it requires more trucks.

"I don't know how you would measure that," he said. "On the other hand, could you really measure what recycling is doing to make the Earth better?"

Comments on this article

by Don	Sep 26, 2008 12:12 PM
the City of St. Petersburg still does not offer any incetives/credits for outfitting your home with "green tech". ie. solar. Wake up Pinellas County, St. Petersburg leaders! Many other cities/counties in the state do.

by pops	Sep 26, 2008 12:12 PM
There must be something$$$$ in it for the flip flop mayor and his city JUST LIKE THE SURCHARGE ON WATER AND SEWER fo living a block out of the city. HIM AND HIS CRONIES ARE OUT FOR EVERY CENT THEY CAN GET.

by suzi	Sep 26, 2008 12:12 PM
Recycling saves energy, landfill space and natural resources. Of these, energy is the most important. Recycling an aluminum can saves 90% of the energy required to make it from the raw material (bauxite).

by carol	Sep 25, 2008 7:04 PM
Cannot be mandatory otherwise all the elderly's homes will be full of stuff they can't get to the curb. Think of the rodent infestattion. They can barely get the dumpster on wheels down there & back.

by EA	Sep 25, 2008 6:25 PM
C'mon, Luke! Don't you realize that curbside recycling is the panacea that's going to save the earth? Granted, you have to avoid all critical thought and ignore current recycling efforts, the incinerator program, & eco costs of curbside recycling.

by Barbara	Sep 25, 2008 6:21 PM
This is certainly good news and about time. St. Pete is the 1st place I've lived w/o recycling. I agree with EA - now we can go to weekly recycling and monthly trash pickup. Try recycling and see how much less 'trash' you have. It's truly an I openr.

by Gertrude	Sep 25, 2008 6:21 PM
If Baker is concerned about carbon pollution, why do we host the Grand Prix races every year. That's a lot of pollution, too. Do the races even have a carbon offset program?

by Gardner	Sep 25, 2008 6:14 PM
Now i have a place to dump my old trans am parts.

by Jo	Sep 25, 2008 2:49 PM
Amen, Scott! And kudos to the Mayor-great news.

by ctb	Sep 25, 2008 2:49 PM
Glad he finally came to his senses; his 'anti' arguments just won't stand up to any serious scrutiny.We recycle,but a majority of our neighbors most definitely DON'T.Our city can goes out 2X/month, all the others here are overflowing 2X weekly.

by Luke	Sep 25, 2008 2:49 PM
Are bottles and cans recycling?...What about yard waste and cardboard, Wake up...Been going on for 30 yrs.

by brian	Sep 25, 2008 1:33 PM
hey hey recycling in pinellas! what's next vaccinating children, spaying pets and touch tone phones?!?!

by rachel	Sep 25, 2008 12:09 PM
I am so glad the mayor finally came around. Must've been those stickers on our trashcans that really got him thinkin!

by Luke	Sep 25, 2008 12:09 PM
St.Petersburg, Automated collection Jan 1979, 30 years ahead, 2 men on Frontloaders, No one else has that, Largest Cardboard recycling and Largest yard waste in the state, Where is the credit? Curbside recycling is a scam to buy more consumer items.

by Lee	Sep 25, 2008 12:09 PM
Brian wrote,"look at how much less garbage goes into landfills."St. Pete's Garbage facility is a top notch facility.It's setup to catch recyclable material so we dont have to & uses only 10% of the space of a normal landfill.It also powers the city.

by Stephanie	Sep 25, 2008 12:09 PM
Wow, finally Rick Baker realizes who pays his salary - the people of St. Pete, who WANT RECYCLING. Is he thinking about being re-elected maybe? He never does anything because it's a good thing, only to make himself look better politically. Phony.

by Jimbo	Sep 25, 2008 12:09 PM
This is a fantastic idea. However, old habits are hard to break. My roommate told me this morning that he'd still throw everything in the trash, even if it was curbside, "too much of a hassle." I'm for it, but how many others think like him?

by Alex	Sep 25, 2008 12:08 PM
I applaud Mayor Baker's decisions throughout this debate. As much as recycling seems like a worthwhile undertaking, the process of recycling is not green, and fairly complex in terms of measuring carbon output. Cheers to working towards a solution.

by Greg	Sep 25, 2008 12:08 PM
Better late than never. Thanks to Mayor Baker for making a change that reflects postitively on the city and represents the values of its residents.

by EA	Sep 25, 2008 12:08 PM
With all this recycling everyone's going to start doing, we can have weekly curbside recycling and monthly garbage pick up.

by Anne	Sep 25, 2008 12:08 PM
Yay! Finally! I'm so tired of packing everything up and using expensive gas to drive to recycling station!

by Scott K. Wagman	Sep 25, 2008 9:10 AM
As this city/county cooperation on implementing curbside recycling begins,I hope it opens up a new era of a more regionalzed approach to common problems. Hats off to all who spoke out,wrote letters,proposed compromises and persevered to get this done

by pj	Sep 25, 2008 9:10 AM
you must be getting your ball back because you were the only person not playing for the last few months what change,how much are you been offered,whats the bribe,whats up with this change of heart just whats up,someone please look into this bull

by caye	Sep 25, 2008 9:10 AM
Finally! Mayor must have his political sights on another elected office and his stand against recycling will bite him in the butt. Hooray earth!!!!!!!!!

by Fuber	Sep 25, 2008 9:10 AM
Thank god. About time. Once I started to recycle, my house garbage filled in 4 days. Before recycling it was 1 day. Image the entire city reducing trash like that. A few trucks are less polluting than thousands of cars driving to dropoff points.

by Luke	Sep 25, 2008 9:09 AM
In 1970, All City of Tampa Sanitation trucks were run on Liquid natural gas. 100 Trucks/1970...What happened?

by Kay	Sep 25, 2008 9:08 AM
Thank you, Mayor, for coming around. Really, I applaud you. With curbside recycling, I would think you could go to 1 day a week for regular garbage pick up. Especially with special yard waste pick up days.

by Adub ya	Sep 25, 2008 9:08 AM
Way to man up Mr. Mayor. It takes a bigger man to change his mind than to hold his ground. Your previous position was defensible and so is this one.

by Ryan	Sep 25, 2008 9:08 AM
Mayor Baker is worried about the pollution from the garbage trucks? What about all the trash from the people that don't recycle because they don't want to drive to a collection point?

by Marty S.	Sep 25, 2008 9:08 AM
What has happened to Rick Baker! Suddenly listening to your onstituients? Are you just now understanding how a representative form of gov't works? Now hear this: the people of St. Pete want curbside p/u of the drug dealers, thugs & panhandlers!

by Martin	Sep 25, 2008 9:07 AM
Finally! Now, this is GOOD news.

by Brian	Sep 25, 2008 9:07 AM
Well, yes Mayor Baker, it's easy to see how recycling makes the Earth better - look at how much less garbage goes into landfills.

by Lilah	Sep 25, 2008 9:07 AM
Ed Helm was ahead of his time.